cruisingatsea2

Thanks for the info everyone! I think we're going to go with deck 6 - port side for our South American cruise in January 2016. Keep your fingers crossed for us for no drifting smoke.

Thanks Beth for your detailed answered regarding the smoking areas on the Infinity. Re the deck 4 - port side smoking area....do you know if it is forward, midship or aft? We are looking to book deck 6 - port side. Thanks again.

We are booked in a verandah cabin deck 6 forward (6039) for the January 17-31, 2016 sailing Valparaiso to Buenos Aires. Just off the Equinox Eastern Med cruise and had a problem with second hand smoke drifting up from the dedicated smoking area from a deck below. Couldn't leave our balcony door open and couldn't enjoy the balcony in the evening. Can anyone tell me where the outside smoking area is on the Infinity. Celebrity told me it changes and will be announced in a notice on the ship?? Does anyone know the answer? Thanks everyone!

Donray - many thanks to you also for the electrical info! I've checked the device and it is 50-60 cycle so I think we are good to go! Two weeks tomorrow and we will be on our 13 hour flight to Beijing. I'm trying to check live web cams for Beijing to see what the weather looks like on the ground - but no luck so far. Packing layers takes space away from my shopping frenzy..........!

Turtles06 - thank you so much for a very clear explanation of the electrical current and plugs issue. I checked the bottom of the device and it is dual voltage and I have the plug adaptor - so I'm good to go! Again, thanks for clarifying this issue for me!

HELP!!! I'm sooo confused. I thought I was OK with an adapter to put on the end of my plug to make it fit the different configuration of wall plug recepticles. Now I think I need some type of electrical converter - because the current is different from North America??? I must use an electrical medical device at night so need to make sure I have the right adapter or converter with me. Please can someone tell me exactly what I need - one or the other or none at all or something entirely different!! Can hardly wait as someone said less than 30 days now (23 for us). Any info as always is greatfully received. :)

Water must be at a full boil for 5 minutes to kill Ecoli and other nasty bugs and germs that may be in the water. I came home with C-difficile and food poisoning once and never want it again. I'm super super careful now about the possibility of water and/or food contamination. The chances that any hotel or the ship will fully boil water that long is extremely remote!

The hotels that Viking uses and on the ship itself only use purified water for beverages.

Drinking water safety. My TA double checked with Viking and the water on the ship is "filtered". There is no information about the type of filter, how often it is changed, etc. Our pre-cruise 5* hotel in Beijing confirmed via email that they use tap water to make coffee, etc. To be totally safe I will not be drinking any water (or anything made with water) while in China unless I see it coming out of a sealed bottle! On the same note, does anyone know (or remember) if there are coffee pots in the hotel rooms (standard item in most North American hotels) - 4 cup or single serving. Thanks for the great info.

BTW, the buffet in the ShangriLa is huge and you have to go all the way back to find the omelet bar and to check out some of the other non-American breakfast food stations. There are more food choices than you can even sample in a single meal!

I have a question regarding coffee (and water)! We will have plenty of bottled water for drinking during the day and brushing our teeth. I understand that we should not drink any other type of water in China - other than bottled. My question is - how do we get coffee in the morning? This question applies to hotels and the river cruise. How can we be sure it is made with boiled water? Is it safe to drink? The same applies to the juices - are they reconstituted or fresh? Should we buy coffee beans to chew so that we don't end up with caffine withdrawal???? We're counting the days now - can't wait to experience everything we've been reading about.

We leave for Imperial Jewels in early October out of Beijing and have yet to find any info on cc about the extension trip to Hong Kong. Has anyone done it or can anyone point me to some post that I might have missed. I'm also starting top think about clothes (I know it's early) but with the rainy weather and being October I'd really appreciate some ideas!!

My fears have been realized! Layers - more clothes - less room for those MB pens, TC warriors and Mao T-shirts!! Thank you Turtle06 for the summary of your own 3 day stay in Beijing. You saw most of the things I have earmarked and a few others I'll have to find out more about. We are 2 women travelling together and will get a guide for at least 1 of our days maybe 2. I've noted Sunflower Lee's name as a guide to contact. Do we need to know where we want to go or does she have a set course that she covers? So much information to absorb - these boards are wonderful. Thanks everyone for sharing info!!:):)

I have been reading the posts carefully (I think) but can't get a handle on the temperatures we will have in October. The weather network seems to say anything between mid 40's to high 80's. I don't know whether to pack summer or fall clothes - help anyone! Fleece jackets or down vests!! Also, we are doing the extension Shanghai to Hong Kong - is anyone else doing this? Has anyone read any posts about this extension. I hope I'm not missing stuff in my reading. We fly into Beijing 3 days early and are staying at Raffles and then transfer to the Viking hotel - Ritz Carlton - for the start of the tour. We opted to stay closer to the main area of the city rather than in the financial district for our own time. Any help or info as always is much appreciated.:)